[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by NFS

It's not the principle that's wrong, it's the industry that leeches off it.

The Human Rights Act was supposed to draw a line in the sand, so that it would be absolutely illegal for authorities in any country to:

1. Lock people up without trial
2. Torture them
3. Murder them

Connecting peoples testicles to car batteries because they don't agree with the Govt is the sort of behaviour we want to discourage. We should all take a little bit of time to count ourselves lucky for the freedoms we enjoy.

I've no doubt that there are solicitors wasting legal aid money and authorities making unnecessary concessions which waste taxpayers money, because of loopholes in the law or sheer stupidity.

But, if you have the time, have a read of the act and ask yourself if you believe that you should have those 'rights' yourself.

If you do, then it's only right that they be extended to everyone.

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998...0042_en_3#sch1

Sorry Simon, had'nt got that far in the thread before I posted above,I'm glad I am not alone in that view.

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by RagingKileak

Hmm,

This has been a very interesting read for me as a hardworking, but relatively happy-go-lucky sort of chap.

I can't comment on almost any kind of political stance, as to be honest I dont really fall into either the left, right, middle, or marginally North by Northwest etc. I can't comment on the 80's or past Tory governments, I only know New Labour to be fair, and I have never voted for them, and nay, I have never really voted at all.

I am 26 in March, and I have never held a strong enough opinion of any political party to vote. It has to be said that I accept I am wasting my right to vote, and we could argue endlessly about why I should etc but thats not quite what this debate seems to be about.

Currently, I go to the local Conservative Club and am a paid member. Why? Because when I go there the TV works and the Snooker tables are full sized, clean and the system of rules for playing there is enforced strictly.

I can have a drink or two for £1.10 a pint and watch a 'turn' on Saturday nights etc - everyone is friendly, and there is a good community of mutual assistance. I fix peoples computers, a butcher gets me a bag of steaks for £10 bi-weekly and a lad who works for Leeds United brings me Autographs and programs etc.

In the past I used to go to the Working Mens club up the road - but it has seen an increasingly large amount of violent disorder until the point where it was recently closed as a result... I remember the last time I went in there, it was basically filled with the kind of Social Underclass that you might see on Shameless - think Karen Matthews. The kind of horrific creature which is in my view (uneducated as I admit to being on this subject) the product of New Labour.

Any New Labour fan would call me spectacularly stupid, because maybe Karen Matthews and her Social Underclass are actually products of a previous Tory Britain.

The problem for me and millions like me is this - I left school at 16, I worked my ar$e off and I have a house which has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, 2 reception rooms and a double garage and I drive a 335D so I did well off my own back with no help from anyone else but my girlfriend who is equally uneducated academically, yet successful.

New Labour have been in power since I could vote and have never helped me.

I went to work at 16 and got promoted at 16, then I went elsewhere for more money, and so on and so forth until I am where I am now - there are only 2 people above me in my company and its a BIG company.

Every month I pay a large amount of tax and always have, I have never took money on the side of any real value (probably a sum total of less than £500 in ten years) and I have never been sick for more than a couple of days. I have never used the NHS in any way except for Asthma medicine and Dentists.

So for me and the rest of Britain like me - all we saw was our house prices go up, then come back down again and now many of us are losing our jobs and we dont really know what happened in between...

We think - rightly or wrongly that its because of New Labour that the country is in this situation - or maybe we just think that the only way to instigate any kind of solution is to change governments regardless of who is at fault?

Look at America - Is Obama really the best choice? I doubt it. But he makes speeches and promises, looks good and made everyone feel happy when he won.

Also, as a side note I dont think David Cameron is up to much - and voting Liberal is more like declaring your vote null and void - so all I have been doing by not voting is saving myself a trip to the polling station.

Anyway, there is a good chance I will be classing myself as Tory from now on, despite the fact that Cameron worries me. My family is strongly Liberal, and has always been against the Tories - but I am from a different generation and I live in a different world.

My mother is a closet Feminist type, and my dad was a hard working Labour type I would guess, but I never discussed politics with him before he died when I was nine so I dont know!

On the other hand I am probably a yuppie basically - I have little or no understanding of what is actually going on around me, but what I do, I do very well and I am paid more than I should be for it - why would I give that up just so that Karen Matthews and her eight children can feed from my hand??

To be fair, I think 12 years ago, I would have been a typical Labour voter - note I was never educated by the state after school, I have never claimed a penny in benefits, dole or NHS payouts etc. I have never sued my local council for falling down a hole or because a pothole broke an alloy wheel - yet I still pay Road Tax, National Insurance and the rest. I worked myself to where I am and yet with each new budget Labour take a little bit more away from me... a little bit more tax or NI, a little bit more tax on fuel or fatty foods, it becomes a little bit harder for me to date anyone from a different social group - because if I went out with someone who had kids the vacuum effect that losing her benefits would have on her life would make it impossible for her to live!!

Etc etc. There are a million reasons why we need a change of government - it might not help, but I still want it just so I feel better.

To be honest, I JUST DONT CARE about who is in power, but I want them to do better.

I think the person who summed up EVERY word of what I am saying far more eloquently and with much less hot air was Roofer - who said something like... I work hard for my family - why do scumbags get my money? (I realise thats a brtual example of putting words in someone elses mouth)

On the issue of migrant workers - I would have a working, happy Polishman in ANY job he could do over a Karen Matthews that never turns up, never works when they do, and never stops moaning.

One of the most dilligent chaps at my work is a Czech guy who was previously trained in their equivalent of the SAS, he would eat Chris Ryan for breakfast yet in an IT Service Desk environment he is happy, friendly and far more capable than most of the people I have interview in the past 2 years - who generally spend a lot of time 'contracting' or 'travelling' with more or less completely blank CV's.

Wow. Lots of digression here - plenty of opportunity to pick me to pieces and maybe I deserve it, but I know what I was trying to say!!!

Peace to all by the way, this is only a debate, I would never fall out over politics because YOU - yes YOU the person reading this almost definately knows more on this subject than I do.. I just have opinions and thoughts!!!

Regards
Matt

Great post

[Gibbo]

Originally Posted by Hotcoupe

Great post

One of the best posts I have read on here in ages.

[RagingKileak]

Originally Posted by Gibbo

One of the best posts I have read on here in ages.

You two taking the p1$$ lol??

Matt

[Steve A]

Simon , just because someone earns a few quid doesnt mean they will align themselves with the conservatories.

Id class myself as an intellegent man but not very learned. So i apologise if my grammer isnt up to scratch.

I work hard for what ive achieved. im a grafter. i take after my mum. Left school at 16. This was a decision i made to help my mothers shop keep going. At 12 my father died and my mother had a newsagent that she worked in alone 7 days a week, for 20 years. She is a mighty woman. she struggled. The shop went from being a goldmine to a failure due to maggis policies of shutting down/moving indusrty out of the town ( mining) Shuting dole offices, colleges etc. Stopping the Milk to schools that we supplied etc. The torys really f**ked my familys fortune up.

My brother (the bright one) was at uni doing a physics degree, she couldnt really support me so i gave up my chance at further education and went to work for norweb. ill fast forward so i dont bore you all to death but i now run a couple of busniesses turnover a ferw million quid each year and i dont mind paying taxes.

Ive done well under new labour even though i would have probbably done the same under a tory government.

I have always voted labour and always will. The torys are slimy bastards havent got a f**king clue what the man on the street wants and to be fair neither have Labour.

I think its defo more a north south divide on this forum as to your party of choice.

north = labour
south = tory

So i just realised ive not really got a point to make so im going to f**k off

[willhollin]

So what do we in the Midlands vote?

http://www.omrlp.com/

[willhollin]

A few of my proposals -

#

Healthy Drinking
Health Matters: show by example.
To stop young people's excessive drinking and having a good time the politicians should convert all their 30 or 40 bars at Westminster into milk bars. Their restaurants should be converted into salad bars to show solidarity with school children, how to improve their health and fitness.
#

Shout it out
The speaker in the house of commons will be replaced by the latest audio equipment
#

Balanced View
All politicians should be made to stand continually on one leg while making speeches to check how balanced their arguments are. It should also reduce political flatulence and soothe the listeners ears
#

PeacePlan
To help the Israel/palestine problems, we should get rid of the old fashioned road map, and give them a sat nav instead.
#

Purple Haze
It is proposed the party adopts the Paint It Purple Policy(PIPP) In order to solve the problem of depressed areas,unemployment and youth disaffection, Every third building in the country should be painted purple. There'll be lots of jobs created either making purple paint, or doing the painting, these jobs can be done by young people, who'll be too busy washing purple paint off themselves to get into trouble.
#

Beat Them at their own game
It is proposed that the government should set up a terrorist training camp and that all prospective suicide bombers should have to blow themselves up as there final licensing test, with points added for mass destruction of the test range, but deducted for survival. this would undoubtedly reduce acts of terror.
#

Ex pat proposal
On a recent visit back to Blighty, I was concerned to hear of Labour's financial contrubutions scandal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donorgate). Knowing the Monster Raving Loony Party would never accept "under the table" donations, I propose a strictly "on top of the table" alternative, to be delivered in manilla envelopes to all Labour Party offices... The DonorGate Commemorative Cookie - brown on the outside, flakey on the inside, and sprinkled with nuts.
If you wanted to further feed general public interest, you would "knead" millions... The first batch could be of, say, 548,850, the next 320,000, and so forth. While unable to match Labour's foreign receipts, each of us ex-patriot Brits could then send you a big batch of cookie dough, roughly moulded into the shape of the countries in which we presently reside. This would provide your party with its fair share of offshore "dodgy dough nations"....
#

Politicians are Shocked
Politicians to be fitted with electric shock collars, the type used to stop dogs barking, and shocked every time they lie.
#

And The Winners of Next weeks Lottery Are?
Psychics should be made to prove themselves by winning both the National Lottery and the Euromillions, having correctly predicted the winning numbers.
#

Never mind the money
Every year the Prime Minister should be tarred and feathered, this will make the job much less appealing and will hopefully lead to short term office for power-hungry PMs.
#

Monarchy
A lot of people believe that we should no longer have a Monarchy as they serve no purpose. However the Monarchy through tourism bring alot of money to Britain. It is proposed that we hold a jousting competion, with the winner becoming Monarch for the year. Reprint the coins with a picture of a knight joustin on them. We would never have to reprint the coins from then on and at least people would feel the then current Monarch earned thier position. Keeping the Monarchy would allow us still to reap the benifits of tourism.
#

Football
All football team's should wear the same coloured shirts , shorts and boots , wear big red noses and bright green wigs, as this will lead to a more exciting and interesting game.
#

Immigration
i) The government's plans on restricting immigration does not go far enough. To fully protect our nation's values, we should ensure nobody can get into Britain at all. We shall burn all airports & harbours, establish anti-aircraft guns and sea mines across every inch of coast, and erect a vast forcefield around Great Britain.
ii) Anyone who is abroad shall only be let back in after 40 days of quarantine, where they will be made to listen to the national anthem 24/7 to prevent any contamination by foreign thinking.
#

University Fees
It is proposed to raise the cost of an university education to the point where nobody can afford to go, thus ending the scourge of drunk students.
#

Fishy Sounding
All tins of tuna to be sold with a FREE peg or a gas mask for the higher quality tuna.
#

A drink in your Honour
There should be two plaques in every pub, one to Alan "Howlin Laud" Hope and one to Screamin Lord Sutch, possibly the greatest man who ever lived (sent in by wijajo)
#

Livestock Buffet
Why not rear cattle in restaurants? There will no need to distribute meat all over the country creating pollution and kids will have fun petting the fat cows and snorting pigs.
#

The OAP jetset.
It is proposed to supply jetpacks for the elderly. This way they don't block the pavements and roads with those slow little machines that they have. This will reduce congestion so will be good for the environment. The elderly may have more fun in their life, more fun than bingo, and as there are no cars in the sky it will be much safer. Soon everyone will want jetpacks and the world will be a better place.
#

This one was sent in by Garry. Personally we think this policy is a sticky proposition.
I think MRLP should table a motion for the preservation of Hot Treacle Pudding. That this great British delicacy should remain on our shop shelves and in our restaurants. Moreover the public should even be allowed to bath in it, if they so desire, but not in hot water but tepid deluxe thick creamy custard. I also insist that the European commune be converted to Hot Treacle pudding by August 2013.
#

Commas with dots
Semicolons should be banned; No-one knows when to use one anyway.
#

Transport Politicians to Hospital
Politicians will be made to use public transport, this will have many benefits, the saved money could be invested into hospitals, which could then be used to treat said politicians after having used said public transport.
#

Political Mascots
During an election campaign, all political partes in the UK must spend at least 1% of their expenses on the maintenance and upkeep of a mascot and costume. This would serve to boost popularity in voting and encourage more
public participation in politics.

[AlanQS]

Originally Posted by Ragingkileak

You two taking the p1$$ lol??

Matt

No, they weren't. A very good post indeed. You made your points and offended no-one - that takes some skill judging by the posts so far.

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

No, they weren't. A very good post indeed. You made your points and offended no-one - that takes some skill judging by the posts so far.

You're right Alan, I was'nt taking the piss, I can't imagine Gibbo was either.

[Hotcoupe]

One for Fielding, in jest of course

[roofer]

Originally Posted by Hotcoupe

How's it going in South of wark?

No good coming 6th there, got to be top 5 to get some spoils of the 850 humongous ones over 10yrs.

You in it? Or have you not heard yet?

You mean the Lambeth blocks? We're doing them now Got some Yorkshire/Cheshire irons in the fire as well.

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by Hotcoupe

One for Fielding, in jest of course

Well this thread just reached its highpoint; we should probably stop here.

I nearly peed myself laughing. We may have our political differences but thank God for the British sense of humor!

[lons]

Originally Posted by NFS

It's not the principle that's wrong, it's the industry that leeches off it.

The Human Rights Act was supposed to draw a line in the sand, so that it would be absolutely illegal for authorities in any country to:

1. Lock people up without trial
2. Torture them
3. Murder them

Connecting peoples testicles to car batteries because they don't agree with the Govt is the sort of behaviour we want to discourage. We should all take a little bit of time to count ourselves lucky for the freedoms we enjoy.

I've no doubt that there are solicitors wasting legal aid money and authorities making unnecessary concessions which waste taxpayers money, because of loopholes in the law or sheer stupidity.

But, if you have the time, have a read of the act and ask yourself if you believe that you should have those 'rights' yourself.

If you do, then it's only right that they be extended to everyone.

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998...0042_en_3#sch1

Spot on, I agree with that and haven't said that the act is wrong but.......Like all other laws and rules they are subject to the interpretation of the idiots who apply them and unfortunately it is usually the strong willed and most active idealists who we allow (through appathy) to twist and manipulate these to meet their own agendas.
I've spent time in South Africa and even when there 9 months ago, the enequalities are apparent if you open your eyes. I would hope that the UK is better than that but the reality is that we haven't progressed as much as we like to think we have.
Let anyone honestly tell me that general crime isn't out of control and I'll show the edvidence to prove otherwise.
Take the "official" spin stats for what they are - utter crap - and take a good look at the thriving underworld society that exists in the certain knowledge that the penelty most certainly does not fit the crime, even if caught which is unlikely and those very persistant offenders who do go to prison (for ridiculously short terms), live very comfortly whith the exception of loss of freedom, while the victims of their crimes receive little or no support.
Ask a copper just how much pressure there is to meet arrest and conviction targets and why the easiest and lowest paperwork incidents usually get priority, for obvious reasons.
Am I cynical - you bet your ass I am - I've been around long enough to see it happen.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Steve A

Simon , just because someone earns a few quid doesnt mean they will align themselves with the conservatories.

Id class myself as an intellegent man but not very learned. So i apologise if my grammer isnt up to scratch.

I work hard for what ive achieved. im a grafter. i take after my mum. Left school at 16. This was a decision i made to help my mothers shop keep going. At 12 my father died and my mother had a newsagent that she worked in alone 7 days a week, for 20 years. She is a mighty woman. she struggled. The shop went from being a goldmine to a failure due to maggis policies of shutting down/moving indusrty out of the town ( mining) Shuting dole offices, colleges etc. Stopping the Milk to schools that we supplied etc. The torys really f**ked my familys fortune up.

My brother (the bright one) was at uni doing a physics degree, she couldnt really support me so i gave up my chance at further education and went to work for norweb. ill fast forward so i dont bore you all to death but i now run a couple of busniesses turnover a ferw million quid each year and i dont mind paying taxes.

Ive done well under new labour even though i would have probbably done the same under a tory government.

I have always voted labour and always will. The torys are slimy bastards havent got a f**king clue what the man on the street wants and to be fair neither have Labour.

I think its defo more a north south divide on this forum as to your party of choice.

north = labour
south = tory

So i just realised ive not really got a point to make so im going to f**k off

You made your point very well Steve. North / South divide definitely comes into it. The Labour Party has it's roots in Scotland and the North of England - just like me.

[RagingKileak]

I think this thread if taken in the correct context has been extremely interesting and educational for me

Matt

[SteveC]

Some very interesting arguments, observations and interpretations

Let's see how things stack up

1. As a working man, which do you think would benefit you the most?
a. To pay someone rent for the rest of your life or
b. To eventually own the property you live in, benefit immediately from any capital appreciation and enjoy the security of owning a large, valuable asset.

2. Which do you think is the best policy?
a. Take money from healthy businesses and give it to failing, uncompetitive businesses in order to prevent them from going bust or
b. Allow the failing businesses to close down while ensuring that healthy businesses have money to invest, grow and thrive.

3. Which do you think is most sensible?
a. Manage an economy where the vast majority of citizens are able to live comfortably on their own incomes or
b. Set up a system whereby everyone pays large percentages of their income to the government then around 50% of the population apply to the government to try and get some money back in order to live

4. Which do you think sounds most sustainable?
a. support the productive sectors of an economy by minimizing non-productive overhead
b. grow non-productive overhead 20% faster than the productive sectors of an economy

5. You legislate against the products of a large and important manufacturing industry for several years, then force your citizens to give it £2.5B when it seems likely to go bust
a. Yes, this makes sense
b. No, that would be completely silly

6. Which sentence seems most logical to you?
a. State pension increases are calculated based partly on house prices, council tax increases, cost of dwelling insurance and rent or
b. Pension increases are calculated based partly on University accomodation costs, foreign student tuition fees and unit trust and stockbroker charges

7. Which seems to make the most sense to you. After a long period of relative peace a country sends its troops to fight in 2 foreign wars. The percentage of its national budget allocated to its armed forces
a. increases or
b. decreases

8. NHS Trusts are struggling to close budget deficits. NHS Doctor's can double their pay thanks to new Government incentives
a. That makes perfect sense or
b This would qualify as another example of Government bungling

9. Binge drinking and drink related crime are now serious social problems which should be addressed by:
a. finding ways to limit and discourage excessive alcohol comsumption or
b. removing restrictions on opening hours of pubs and clubs thereby making alcohol more freely available

10 Gambling is a serious problem, especially in deprived areas. This is best addressed by
a. Resticting the number and availablility of gambling establishments or
b. approving several new casinos, throwing the doors open for new betting offices and on-line gambling and derestricting advertising related to gambling

11. Crime is increasing and needs to be urgently addressed. This is best achieved by:
a. Taking measures to get more police out onto the streets or
b setting targets for police forces that require officers to sit at their desks filling in forms while releasing serious offenders early to create more space in overcrowded jails

12. You want to encourage more students from underpriviledged famililes to attend universities. You achieve this by
a. investing in schools in underpriveledged areas or
b. introducing top up fees and charging all students £3,500 per annum

13. You set goals for reduction of crime and illegal workers. You will reach these goals by
a. controlling the movement of criminals into and out of the country, while enforcing asylum laws fairly and efficiently or
b. completely lose control of immigration, asylum seekers and the movements of criminals

14 You want to stimulate the economy. You think the best way to achieve this is by
a. Substantially reducing the tax on fuel, making all energy and transport costs cheaper, thereby lowering production and transport costs of goods, allowing pensioners to heat their homes and putting extra money into every motorists' and consumers' pockets
b. reduce the price of capital goods, clothes and services by 2%, while proposing a 13% tax increase on higher earners to pay for it


Scoring:
Score 1 point each if you selected (a) on questions 1, 2, 5 and 8
Score 1 point each if you answered (b) on questions 3,4,6,7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14

Rating your score
0-5 Consider emigrating!
6-9 Thinking about voting liberal in the next general election?
10-14 Hi all you Gordon fans or in the words of Jeremy Clark... never mind.

[lons]

Originally Posted by SteveC

Some very interesting arguments, observations and interpretations

Let's see how things stack up

1. As a working man, which do you think would benefit you the most?
a. To pay someone rent for the rest of your life or
b. To eventually own the property you live in, benefit immediately from any capital appreciation and enjoy the security of owning a large, valuable asset.

2. Which do you think is the best policy?
a. Take money from healthy businesses and give it to failing, uncompetitive businesses in order to prevent them from going bust or
b. Allow the failing businesses to close down while ensuring that healthy businesses have money to invest, grow and thrive.

3. Which do you think is most sensible?
a. Manage an economy where the vast majority of citizens are able to live comfortably on their own incomes or
b. Set up a system whereby everyone pays large percentages of their income to the government then around 50% of the population apply to the government to try and get some money back in order to live

4. Which do you think sounds most sustainable?
a. support the productive sectors of an economy by minimizing non-productive overhead
b. grow non-productive overhead 20% faster than the productive sectors of an economy

5. You legislate against the products of a large and important manufacturing industry for several years, then force your citizens to give it £2.5B when it seems likely to go bust
a. Yes, this makes sense
b. No, that would be completely silly

6. Which sentence seems most logical to you?
a. State pension increases are calculated based partly on house prices, council tax increases, cost of dwelling insurance and rent or
b. Pension increases are calculated based partly on University accomodation costs, foreign student tuition fees and unit trust and stockbroker charges

7. Which seems to make the most sense to you. After a long period of relative peace a country sends its troops to fight in 2 foreign wars. The percentage of its national budget allocated to its armed forces
a. increases or
b. decreases

8. NHS Trusts are struggling to close budget deficits. NHS Doctor's can double their pay thanks to new Government incentives
a. That makes perfect sense or
b This would qualify as another example of Government bungling

9. Binge drinking and drink related crime are now serious social problems which should be addressed by:
a. finding ways to limit and discourage excessive alcohol comsumption or
b. removing restrictions on opening hours of pubs and clubs thereby making alcohol more freely available

10 Gambling is a serious problem, especially in deprived areas. This is best addressed by
a. Resticting the number and availablility of gambling establishments or
b. approving several new casinos, throwing the doors open for new betting offices and on-line gambling and derestricting advertising related to gambling

11. Crime is increasing and needs to be urgently addressed. This is best achieved by:
a. Taking measures to get more police out onto the streets or
b setting targets for police forces that require officers to sit at their desks filling in forms while releasing serious offenders early to create more space in overcrowded jails

12. You want to encourage more students from underpriviledged famililes to attend universities. You achieve this by
a. investing in schools in underpriveledged areas or
b. introducing top up fees and charging all students £3,500 per annum

13. You set goals for reduction of crime and illegal workers. You will reach these goals by
a. controlling the movement of criminals into and out of the country, while enforcing asylum laws fairly and efficiently or
b. completely lose control of immigration, asylum seekers and the movements of criminals

14 You want to stimulate the economy. You think the best way to achieve this is by
a. Substantially reducing the tax on fuel, making all energy and transport costs cheaper, thereby lowering production and transport costs of goods, allowing pensioners to heat their homes and putting extra money into every motorists' and consumers' pockets
b. reduce the price of capital goods, clothes and services by 2%, while proposing a 13% tax increase on higher earners to pay for it


Scoring:
Score 1 point each if you selected (a) on questions 1, 2, 5 and 8
Score 1 point each if you answered (b) on questions 3,4,6,7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14

Rating your score
0-5 Consider emigrating!
6-9 Thinking about voting liberal in the next general election?
10-14 Hi all you Gordon fans or in the words of Jeremy Clark... never mind.

Got it in one Steve -I sincerely hope you've sent this to No. 10, from where you will (eventually) receive acknowledgement of receipt and be promised a referendum which will never materialise.

[Budgie]

Mini laying off now...850 albeit agency staff...not good news.

[SixDegrees]

^^ I'm part of the 10,000 being laid-off by BT (contractors). Funny thing is, my main area of responsibilty is to keep projects within budegt, find cost savings and generally improve the processes that projects/programmes operate under in order to to improve margin... and I'm pretty good at it!!

But, as a contractor I'm expendible, so I'm out!

[beemerbird]

Sorry to hear that.

Are the chances good of finding work then?

[Porscha!]

I heard things are looking a bit better today, house prices up?? Though not sure thats a good thing really!

[Speedtrap]

I’m sure that’s the case with everything. There are ups and downs, two sides to every coin, and your attitude is reflective of your perspective. When you concentrate on the good aspects of the economy, it’s easy to ignore the bad ones — no matter how bad it really is.

Who is Really to Blame for the Credit Crunch? I think you can apportion blame everywhere. Well, in all honesty - We are to be blamed one way or another - us at the bottom end - the consumer level; consumers who saw credit card offers coming in the mail and we thought it was our money; we would get an overdraft and think it was our money; and we’d start living farther and farther into the future on credit – and then when things began tightening we find it hard to service our loans. Can we blame the government, brokers, bankers, etc....just imagine a market without demand?

Advice? We’re in such unchartered territory that no one can actually tell what the future is going to hold, so just be careful with your money guys - it could hit anyone of us..just try to survive for the next year or so....do take care...